Listen up here. You can't just make a movie. Trust me. There's going to be bickering, changing around, yelling, and possibly even Jerry Springer-like fighting between you and your movie buddies. It happens with everybody, and in bad times, it can end up that your movie will end up a steaming pile of you-know-what. Read on to arm yourself. Also, you should have your group members read it too, for everyone's safety.

Steps

1

Organize your group. Depending on what your movie is like will probably alter this, but in general, there are some characters you would like in your movie. They are referred to [unofficially] by these names:

The Techs. These are the editors of the movies, the guys who add in the special effects. For example, when the wizard teleports, these would be the guys to talk to about putting in the magical "Whoosh" sound. Ideally, they should have these traits:

A large selection of sound effects [SFX] and music. [The music could be brought by someone else, but it's more simple this way.

Good movie editing software, like iMovie by Apple. This requires a Macintosh computer [Mac], however, and seeing that many people do not have that type of software available, it is highly advisable they have some editing software other than Windows Movie Maker. If you only need movie editing software for a few days--likely you will--perhaps you should consider using the Blaze Media Pro trial version. They should also have knowledge of how to use these, so being good readers is always a plus, especially when resorting to having to use trial versions of new software.

Some sound editing software doesn't hurt either; Audacity can really come in handy for this. It's open source and will let you fool around with music from, say, The Matrix Original Soundtrack. And most likely sound effects, too.

The Boss. More commonly known as the director, this is the guy who basically runs the show. There are multiple things that the Boss should have; well-rounded skills, intelligence, etc. Most likely, the best thing that the Boss could have in his/her repertoire of skills is:

A powerful imagination. This is so that he can easily see the movie using his mind's eye. How he can see the terrain, the angles, etc. Note: It is possible to go over the edge with this. If they're imagining a fight with lasers on the moon and you don't have any props ready to use for that, they'll need to imagine something else.

Powerful writing and linguistic skills. The writing is for the writing of the script, which will come in later on in the movie. They should be able to write quite large amounts in short spaces of times; in other words, gifted. They also need to have conflict resolution, because no matter how well you are all prepared, there will be at least one squabble that will break out. Linguistic skills are usually the most important part of the Boss, as he/she will need to describe how things look to him, explain the camera angles and their purpose, etc.

Xeneological training. Xeneology, a term coined by one of our own wikiHow authors, is "the study of random and strange [often relatively useless] facts." Many people who are addicted to Wikipedia can be like this, but having them visit sites such as http://www.dumbfacts.com/ can increase this. This is important, because of the doors it opens up. Not everybody knows what a polymath is. [It's someone who has amazing skill in many often unrelated things.] So putting one in the movie makes it more interesting. Maybe not if it's a main character, but almost always for a side character.

Important! Make sure that either one of the Techs or the Boss [hopefully the Boss] are not also playing a character in the movie, as someone needs to hold the camera!

The Actors. These are the so-called centerpieces of the stage, the real artists. Far from true. If all they do is act, why, are they really more than robots? Nevertheless, all groups need great actors. All actors need great minds to back them up, unless they themselves are polymaths and are gifted with great minds as well. The traits an Actor should hopefully have are:

The ability to enter an altered state of consciousness, commonly known to actors. In other words, the ability to be, not just to portray their character. This can only be honed with practice.

The ability to portray a wide range of emotions. Going down bawling with tears doesn't suit quite well a quiet moment on the terrace where Antonio wants to beak up with Claire, now does it? Being able not only to look like you're going to stab someone to that one soft tear stroking down your cheek is the true sign of acting. Learning to be able to fake cry is immensely helpful, and will get you loads of points in your film if used right.

Those are the main three "types" of characters that you could use in your group. Other than that, there are less-needed things like extras, costume designers, etc. Most of those other types are usually only to enhance the movie, and aren't a real necessity.

2

Have everybody accept a Stoic philosophy-like attitude. Stoicism practices indifference to things and a belief that people should accept suffering without complaining. This should be instilled early on, and instilled very deeply. Make sure that all of your group members are ready to accept that while they may have a differing opinion to what is going to be performed, for the good of the movie and possibly the grades, they must follow it.

3

Choose the roles of everyone in the group. This is fairly obvious, usually, who goes where. But in the event that you have some difficulty deciding what actor should portray a certain character, have them both act a little like them and use your judgement.

4

Write the script! Before you start a movie, you need to write a script. Make sure that everyone in the book reads and obeys this religiously! Otherwise you could end up with a terrible improvised movie.